


The Expanded Adventures Of Nori

by Thorinsmut



Series: Axes and Knives [2]
Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Other, he cannot be contained!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-12
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-29 00:43:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/680732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just little drabbles of Nori.<br/>Chapter 1: The Kid, in which Nori is fluffy on the inside. (GEN)<br/>Chapter 2: The Key, in which we see how Nori is so good at unlocking things.(GEN)<br/>Chapter 3: How NOT to arrest Nori son of Kori: an itemized list of your mistakes. (VIOLENCE)<br/>Chapter 4: The Rules. (VIOLENCE, SEX, BETRAYAL, HURT)<br/>Chapter 5: How NOT To Arrest Nori: this is just embarrassing for everyone.<br/>Chapter 6: The Kid, not such a kid. Wherein I ruin the fluffy chapter one. (SEX, VIOLENCE)<br/>Chapter 7: The Kid in Erebor - I made the last chapter a little less sad.<br/>Chapter 8: The Education of Nori - how Nori got his start thieving.<br/>Chapter 9: Dori would rather not know - Nori tells his big brother things. (SEX)<br/>Chapter 10: How NOT to arrest Nori: don't get sentimental. (VIOLENCE/THREATS)<br/>Chapter 11: Guard Legends - <i>that</i> thief... you don't chase <i>that</i> thief!<br/>Chapter 12: Guard sign - Nori learns how to read Guard Iglishmek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Kid

**Author's Note:**

> Nori can be a little fluffy on the inside, sometimes.

Nori they'd caught fair and square. He'd been picked up with shiny things that weren't his up his sleeves.  
He didn't mind that they'd caught him.  
They shouldn't have picked up the kid. All the kid was doing was following Nori around trying to copy his swagger, and it was cute so Nori had let him.  
He reminded him of Ori.  
They shouldn't have picked up the kid.  
Interesting jail, this. Bit dingy, and everyone was thrown into one big room and chained to the wall.  
The kid was next to Nori.  
Mahal he was skinny, just a little scrap of a thing with huge amber eyes and scruffy black hair, and he was sniffling slightly. Nori had passed him his share of breakfast, and the kid had scarfed it right up. Wretched as it was it was probably the first solid meal he'd had in days.  
The place wasn't well guarded, and he had not been very thoroughly searched. He could have been out in minutes, but he didn't want to reveal any of the stuff hidden in his braids to the other occupants of the jail, so that made things interesting.  
And he wanted to get the kid out.  
They shouldn't have picked up the kid.  
There was only one guard, a slow-moving dwarf with a heavy paunch and a greasy beard. There was only one key to all the chains, and he kept it in his pocket.  
Nori waited until a little after mid-day, when everything was warm and quiet and he knew nothing would happen for a few hours as everyone took their afternoon nap. He nudged the kid.  
“Get the guard to stand right here.” He whispered, pointing at a spot between them, and the kid, with those huge trusting amber eyes, nodded. Nori lay back against the wall, feigning rest.  
The kid started muttering something in a language Nori didn't understand, but apparently the guard did. He glared at the kid.  
The kid glared back, talking louder.  
The guard said something back, smacking the side of his leg and pointing at the kid.  
The kid yelled.  
The guard walked over and smacked him.  
The kid yelled again and punched the guard with his unchained hand, and was punched in return, falling heavily against the wall.  
He curled into a ball and started to cry.  
The guard yelled at him, gave him a kick, and walked back to his chair, leaning back and grumbling.  
The kid looked over at Nori for approval, and Nori quickly flicked the key in his fingers between them, winking.  
The kid smiled, despite the bruise already blooming on his cheek.  
Nori wrapped his arm around the kid, and the kid leaned against him.  
Brave kid.  
Predictably, the guard fell asleep in the afternoon warmth, snoring heavily. Most of the other occupants of the jail also fell asleep... and the kid looked ready to drift off too. Nori nudged him, and the kid looked up, eyes full of hope. Nori quickly unlocked the kid's handcuff, and then his own, making sure to close and re-lock them. They both moved quietly to their feet and moved quietly toward the door, Nori keeping a hand on one of the knives they had failed to find on him. The one or two other occupants who were awake didn't say anything, eyes going wide before they turned their backs and pretended to sleep.  
They stopped in front of the guard, Nori knelt down and gently replaced the key. The kid was looking at him worshipfully. Nori gathered up the knives they had confiscated from him, and then gestured from his favorite knife to the guard, asking the kid if he ought to off him.  
Be what he deserved for hitting the kid, but the kid shook his head, so Nori shrugged and put the knife away. They walked quietly out of the jail.  
The streets were empty, everyone having gone home for their afternoon nap. Nori and the kid walked along until Nori spotted a pony he liked. It even had some nice tack on it. He liberated it from the post it was tied to and swung up. The kid didn't even ask before he clambered up behind him.  
“Is there any town in particular you want to go to?” Nori asked.


	2. The Key

Nori dreamed the key, one night, and he woke up breathless with the beauty of it.   
He dreamed every piece of it, the shafts, the pins, the ratcheting teeth, and how they fit together.   
He dreamed a key that could open any lock.   
He did not have the skill to make it.   
He did not dare tell any smith with the skill how to make it – either the smith would be untrustworthy and would steal the idea, or the smith would be honest and refuse to make it – so the idea burned in his head for months. Every time he employed his lockpicks, and he was good with them, the idea of the key would prod at him, begging to be made.   
He took to sketching it, when he was alone, always burning the paper when he was done.   
Eventually, he realized that while he could not have a smith make the key, he could have _many_ smiths make it, each one making a different piece.   
The first smith he approached was understandably confused, but Nori paid in full in advance, with the promise of a bonus when the piece was complete, and he left a week later with four hollow shafts of differing thicknesses.   
The next smith made the pins.   
And a series of seven smiths made the teeth, such beautiful teeth of all different widths and each capable of being adjusted up or down in height.   
The shafts worked for different sizes of keys, teeth of an appropriate width were strung onto the pins, which then snapped into the shaft, the teeth heights were adjusted, and he could mimic almost any key.   
When disassembled, the key didn't look like anything, little bits of metal and mechanisms.   
No one knew about the key, not even his brothers. He hid it in his hair, just little pieces of metal here and there. A Dwarf's hair was sacred, his braids not to be disturbed without reason, and Nori took full advantage of that... had been taking advantage of it since he first put a braid in his scraggly young beard and hid a lockpick in it.   
He had a key that could open any lock.   
He had dreamed it one night, and woken up breathless with the beauty of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little bit of headcannon of what this key is that Nori keeps in his hair.


	3. How NOT to arrest Nori son of Kori: an itemized list of your mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VIOLENCE WARNING ON THIS CHAPTER!
> 
> You don't want to arrest Nori the wrong way. Trust me.

**How NOT to arrest Nori son of Kori: an itemized list of your mistakes**

_Mistake one: Do not injure Nori._

 There were three guards taking turns punching and kicking him. It was a stupid mistake that had gotten him caught in this alley, and they were taking full advantage. He rolled with it, having learned early in his misguided childhood how to take a hit, how to avoid serious injury. His hands, particularly, he protected.  
Eventually they got tired of kicking him, and even though he hurt just about everywhere, he knew he was just bruised. Nothing was broken.

  _Mistake two: Do not touch the hair._

 One of the guards grabbed him by the top braid, lifting his head up to smack him a few times while the others laughed. He was hauled to his feet with the same grip, and they finally went about the business of arresting him.

  _Mistake three: Do not use a rope without a metal core._

 They tied his hands very tight, tight enough to cut the circulation, so he knew he had a limited amount of time. Thankfully, it was a soft flexible piece of rope they used. Easy to cut.

  _Mistake four: You didn't get all his weapons._

 An easy mistake. No one had _ever_ gotten all his weapons. They did worse than some.

  _Mistake five: Do not take your eyes off of him._

 A guard took each of his arms, and the third walked ahead. They joked together, as they walked along, about the terrible things they were going to do to him once they had him chained up in their jail.  
With his fingertips, he reached into a compartment in the back of his belt and took out a tiny sharp knife, using it to quickly saw the rope off, but he kept his arms in the same position. He put the tiny knife back.

  _Final mistake: Do not go into the dark._

 They took a shortcut through a dark alley. He hitched up the hem of his tunic and pulled out a very sharp thin knife that had been nestled along his spine.  
As they disappeared into the dark, the last thing an observer might have seen was a mirthless smile on the bloodied face of the arrested thief.

Four sets of footsteps echoed through the dark. There was a brief rustling sound, and then, in quick succession, two soft thumps followed by a wet whooshing sound.  
Now there were only two sets of footsteps, then a soft gurgling noise, and there was only one.  
Then, there was silence.

 


	4. The Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS THIS CHAPTER:  
> blood/gore  
> hurt /no comfort  
> betrayal  
> mentions of sex
> 
> This is not a happy story. It happens when Nori is still quite young, before he started spending much time outside Ered Luin.

_left for dead_  
 _they should have known better, but neither of them was ever very smart, were they?_  
 _...make them pay for that_  
Nori fought through the waves of pain, pushing himself to his hands and knees in the filthy alley.  
His stomach rolled, and after only the briefest of struggles against it, he threw up – pain spiking in every muscle as his body heaved.  
 _blood_  
 _that's a lot of blood_  
 _throwing up blood can't be a good sign_  
He somehow managed to push away from the mess, crawling a few steps before he collapsed, the metallic taste of blood and the bitterness of acid in his mouth. He gasped shallowly through the fire of pain that was every breath, and decided to wait, just a little, before trying to get up again.  
 _how did this happen?_  
 _how can you make sure this never happens again?_  
Everything had been going so well, they had banded together for safety  
 _safety, ha  
_ and found that their skills complemented one another. They were all three better off together than they were alone. They lived high, getting away clean with bigger heists, watching one another's backs. It was practically perfect. Nori took care of locks and had light-but-sticky fingers, gorgeous Olvor was amazing at distraction and information gathering, and Toki was perfect wherever brute strength was needed.  
 _should have known better than to band together with anyone_  
 _didn't you learn your lesson after Litr got the gold madness and gutted three of his company before he came at you? If you'd been just a little slower with your knives you would have died, that's what your loyalty got you then. You barely survived this, that's what your loyalty got you this time_  
 _a third time'll kill you_  
 _new rule: loyalty is a poison – avoid it at all costs. don't band together for more than a single job_  
 _loyalty is how Dwarves die_  
Nori pushed himself back to his hands and knees, breathing through the pain, reached up to put a hand on the rough brick wall, finding a handhold and beginning the excruciating task of getting to his feet.  
 _...at least they didn't break your hands...  
_ He'd been sleeping with them both, of course, why wouldn't he? Toki was good for pounding him into the floor when he needed a good vigorous fuck, and Olvor liked to ride his face for a while before being fucked gently. It was nice to have them both within easy reach whenever he wanted.  
 _you assumed they each knew you were fucking the other_  
 _you assumed they knew you were fucking other people_  
 _you assumed they were fucking each other and other people too_  
 _why wouldn't they?_  
They both liked to cuddle afterward, that's where the problem was. They liked to hold him and kiss him and tell him how wonderful he was. Kissing was never his favorite bit, but it felt nice to be cradled in their big strong arms, and who could resist being told how wonderful they were?  
 _when was it they started saying they loved you?_  
 _Olvor before Toki, but months and months ago..._  
Nori was on his feet now, just barely, leaning against the wall even though everything that touched anything hurt. Everything hurt anyway, so it wasn't that much worse. If there were tears in his eyes, he could pretend it was from the pain of all the bruises.  
 _should never have... have..._  
 _how many stupid things have you seen people do for love? It's a thousand times worse than loyalty, in the number of Dwarves it kills._  
 _should never have let them say that_  
 _should never have let them have more than a fuck_  
 _new rule: love is a death trap – avoid everything to do with it_  
 _don't say the word, don't let anyone say the word, don't even think it_  
 _above all else, don't feel it, not ever, not if this is what it does to Dwarves_  
 _don't fuck any one person too frequently_  
 _and no kissing or cuddling, it's too dangerous_  
 _a fuck should stay just a fuck, do your favorite things and nothing more_  
Nori wiped the blood and tears out of his eyes with a torn sleeve as he made his way slowly down the alley.  
They had just finished a job, and he was flushed with success. Everything had gone perfectly, and all three were swaggering along, his arms around Olvor and Toki's waists while their arms were around his shoulders. He'd been happy, feeling good, when both had leaned down.  
“I love you.” they whispered in his ears, simultaneously, and then Toki had grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him face-first into the wall. After that it had been a blur of fists and boots and their angry voices, 'did you think we wouldn't find out' and 'how dare you play us this way', and they were both so much bigger than him, and he was caught by surprise and half-stunned. All he could do was try to roll with the blows and protect his hands until they got bored or tired and decided they'd hurt him enough to kill him and left.  
They left talking about which of his belongings in their shared hideout each wanted.  
 _you can't go home_  
 _can't let little Ori see you like this, even if all you want in the world right now is for Dori to take care of you_  
 _it's not far to Granitestone way, the healer there doesn't ask questions_  
 _...at least you did_ one _thing right, never trusting them with your secrets, you still have your knives and your lockpicks and your emergency gold_  
 _that's a good rule: keep your secrets and don't ever let anyone know where you keep your knives, lockpicks, or gold_  
 _you should have enough money to keep yourself hidden for a week or so_  
 _...get healed up and make them pay_  
Nori stopped walking, leaning against the wall, trying to breathe through the fire in his ribs, trying to figure out which route to take to the healer's place.  
 _you can't take Quartz street, not in the shape you're in, you really will get killed_  
 _and it would be best if no one knows you survived_  
 _you could take Flint, but that takes you right past Marble way and too many people would see you_  
 _that leaves taking the roofs and dropping in the healer's top door_  
 _can you climb?_  
 _...doesn't matter if you can or not, you have to._  
Nori kept walking, to a place where a half-broken wall made it easy to get onto the roofs... easy being relative. He pulled his body slowly, painfully, up the crumbling brickwork that he should have been able to bound up in a few steps.  
He rested at the top, everything, everything hurting but the left side of his chest the most.  
 _broken ribs, do you think?_  
He took off his boots, lifting the liners and picking at the seams, pulling out a thin piece of gold wire from each boot, winding them into a ball, which he put in his pocket before continuing on, creeping slowly over the roofs, keeping to the shadows.  
It felt like miles, though it was only a few streets, when he finally reached the healer's place. It had a funny little hidden veranda, invisible to the street, with a small door.  
Nori knocked on the door, a careful pattern, and it was opened quickly, the healer's eyes widening as she saw his condition.  
He pulled the little ball of gold wire out of his pocket, offering it to her in both hands.  
“Hide me.” he begged through trembling, blood-crusted lips.  
“Oh poor baby...” she crooned, reaching for him, and he collapsed against her broad chest, sobbing as she carried him into her home.  
If there was one thing that all the thieves and cutthroats of Ered Luin knew it was that the healer on Granitstone way doesn't ask questions, and doesn't take sides, and will take care of you.

 It was noticed, in the places they frequented, that the space usually reserved for Nori, Olvor, and Toki was now taken by just Olvor and Toki. The two said enough, when deep in their cups, to leave no doubt that they had disposed of their third member for reasons of jealousy.  
A few weeks later, Nori alone was seen in the space Olvor and Toki had used to sit. There were fading green/yellow bruises everywhere his skin could be seen. He was wearing Olvor's belt, and idly juggling Toki's favorite knife.  
He smiled with a hard gleam in his eye and far too many teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about this.
> 
> Also, I wrote a drabble about the Healer of Granitestone Way, which you can read on Tumblr. It just didn't seem like it would fit with the rest of my stuff here.  
> http://thorinsmut.tumblr.com/post/44904530863/the-healer-of-granitestone-way
> 
> EDIT: I fixed it! I made it fluffy! [Knife Stories](http://archiveofourown.org/works/709351/chapters/1325147)


	5. How NOT To Arrest Nori: this is just embarrassing for everyone.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nori is hungover and has some vestiges of a conscience, but will probably gut you if you mention it.

Nori didn't mind being arrested, really. Give him a good chase and catch him honestly and he didn't really mind. No jail could ever hold him long, nowadays.

But this? This was just _embarrassing._

He had just completed a marvelous job, with a group of Dwarves who's company he found enjoyable. The heist had gone off perfectly and they had spent the night celebrating in the usual way – with food and drink and sex.

Nori had been creeping away to leave town before everyone else woke up to make things awkward, making sure to take nothing that wasn't on the careful list the group's leader had signed for him. The leader knew to expect him to be gone. One job only, that was the rule.

...he _might_ have had a bit more of the celebration than was good for him. Too much of the drinking part, particularly, and spending too much time with the sex part to do much of the eating part. In response, a large angry blacksmith had now taken up residence in his skull and was using the backs of his eyeballs for an anvil, something evil had died in his mouth, the sun hurt, and everything was miserable.

He was picked up for public drunkenness.

Public. Drunkenness.

You do  _not_  arrest Nori for drunkenness. Arrest him for housebreaking, and theft, and cheating at gambling, and being a cocky bastard and spitting at the guard, but not for drunkenness.

It was just  _embarrassing_.

Besides he wasn't drunk, he was  _hungover_. There is a  _difference_.

There wasn't even a chase or anything. He'd been trying to make his eyes work right even though the sun was far too bright. He had been using a wall for support as he convinced his stomach that it actually  _should_ keep down whatever was still in it, and a big slow guardsman with a skinny trainee had grabbed him.

Nori's brain was fuzzy enough that, by the time he realized what was happening, the guardsman was using him as a demonstration to the trainee. He was pinned to the wall, hands pulled behind his back while the guard supervised the trainee's tying of his hands.

The slow guardsman wasn't very good at training, and the trainee was completely green. Even hungover, Nori was easily able to hold his arms in such a way that he had a lot of slack to work with.

The guardsman didn't even bother to check him for concealed weapons. He just took the obvious knives off the back of his belt before sending him and them away with the trainee.

With the  _trainee_.

You do  _not_ send Nori to the jail with the trainee. You surround him with seasoned guards and  _pray_ you make all the way it to jail before he escapes.

So embarrassing.

The skinny trainee grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him away, and Nori went along with it as long as they were going the general direction he wanted to go anyway. It was actually pretty convenient to have someone guiding him along so he didn't stumble or run into anything, even when the evil evil sun was blinding him. The trainee was being very conscientious that way.

Nori decided that the trainee could live.

For some reason, the trainee was walking them through some very bad neighborhoods. Nori made sure to pull himself together a bit so they didn't look like too easy of a target. He grinned with just enough teeth to let everyone know that he was in control of the situation.

Thankfully, the trainee soon turned them down a dark street where the sun was less cruel. Nori slipped his hands out of the cord that tied them and put the trainee in a choke hold.

He had the trainee about halfway to unconscious when thoughts started to percolate up through his fuzzy brain.

It was a terrible neighborhood the trainee had brought them to, full of the sort of people Nori wouldn't want to be at the mercy of, and he wasn't even a guard. If he left the trainee unconscious here... it would be bad. Even if he just ran off he didn't like the trainee's chances, not alone in a place like this. They would tear the skinny Dwarf apart.

Nori loosened his grip. He pulled an impressively sized knife out of his sleeve as the trainee coughed and gasped.

He flashed a smile that was all violence and teeth, warning off any interested watchers, and dragged the trainee down the nearest convenient alley at knife-point.

He couldn't just escape arrest,  _now_ he had to protect some dumb guard trainee.

Could it  _get_ any more embarrassing?

He was far too hung over to be dealing with this.

Once they were out of sight, Nori tried very hard to think of what to do next. His mental map of this city was usually very good, but it was hard to focus on it with the blacksmith in his head pounding on his eyes and everything. He didn't know which way to go to get to a safe place to dump the trainee.

Nori pinned the trainee to the wall in proper guardsman style, holding the shaking Dwarf with one hand and the knife as he tried to think.

“Do you have any water?” he asked. The trainee was sobbing, completely terrified, but nodded.

“Give,” Nori said, gesturing. The trainee handed over a small canteen off his belt. Nori sniffed it and tasted it carefully before he decided it was safe. He rinsed the evil taste out of his mouth before downing the rest of the canteen's contents. He gave the canteen back.

Things were feeling slightly better in his head, but worse in his stomach. Should have sipped the water slowly.

He decided on a route that would quickly and discreetly get them to a safer street so he could drop the stupid trainee. Most importantly, it would keep them out of the evil evil sun.

Nori remembered to take back the knives the slow guard had taken off him, fastening them back to the back of his belt. He replaced the blade he'd been using with one of his favorite curved ones and took a firm grip on the sniffling trainee as he led them down his chosen route.

Far too hung over to be dealing with this.

He stopped them, pinning the trainee with a guardsman hold again while he tried to think of what to do next.

Drop the trainee and get some food, some greasy greasy food, and get out of town. It would unfortunately take going over a few roofs to get to Market street from here, but he was feeling slightly better. He'd make it, and he had plenty of gold from last night's payoff to buy whatever food he wanted... and tea. Some very strong tea.

“Listen,” he said, pulling the trembling trainee's face off of the wall. “You go that way, and I'll go this way... and try to get yourself a partner who gives a rat's ass if you live or die?”

Nori was answered with desperate nodding and shoved the trainee the direction he'd indicated, didn't wait to watch the skinny Dwarf stumble away before he was up the wall and into the torturous sunlight.

 _So_  embarrassing.

Thank Mahal no one saw.


	6. The Kid: not such a kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... chapter one was a cute fluffy fun chapter.  
> Then I ruined it with his behemoth.  
> You're welcome.  
> WARNING FOR UNDERAGE MENTIONS
> 
> Also, for context re:ages, when I'm translating Dwarf ages I generally divide by 3, so...  
> 30 = 10  
> 50 = ~16  
> 140 = ~46  
> also, keep in mind that the kid might not be telling the truth about his age.

Nori had no idea what to do with the kid. He'd figured he could drop the kid off with family somewhere, but it turned out he was an orphan and didn't have any.  
...which explained why he was so skinny, poor kid was _way_ too young to be all on his own.  
As the afternoon rolled on Nori explored the saddlebags of his new pony. He found some jerky, and split it with the kid for a late midday meal since the jail hadn't provided one.  
Very rude, that, and after such a wretched breakfast, too.  
The kid was pretty quiet, at least. He spent a good part of the afternoon with his head against Nori's back, arms loosely around his waist, apparently napping.  
Nori chose a campsite a little while before dark, a nice secluded place where a small fire shouldn't be noticed.  
As soon as they stopped, the kid was everywhere – gathering sticks for firewood, clearing rocks from sleeping spots, making a fire ring – smiling up at Nori with those big amber eyes for approval after every thing. Nori scruffled his messy black hair.  
Cute kid... also useful. Nori wouldn't have made such a nice campsite if left to his own devices.  
By the time Nori had unloaded and taken care of the pony, picketing it in some nice grass, the kid had made a pile of kindling and another of firewood, cleared two side-by-side sleeping spots, and was poking around under the trees, gathering up some weeds or something.  
Nori made a more thorough exploration of the pony's gear and got out a nice cooking pot and some rice. It wasn't his favorite grain, but it's what everyone ate out here in the East. He got the fire going and tried to estimate how much he and the kid would eat, and cooked a bit more, so there would be leftovers for breakfast.  
The bedroll from the pony's gear was a thing of luxury, thick and warm, and Nori felt a surge of affection for whoever he'd stolen it from as he split it into two, blending it with his own more raggedy bedding and setting up beds for himself and the kid.  
The kid ran over with a big smile and an armful of what looked like weeds, and Nori found himself helping clean the leaves and chop them up, boiling them in a little water to serve alongside the rice. The kid even went through the spices in the pony's gear and seasoned everything up.  
Nori changed his estimation of the kid's age upward a little bit, but just a little bit... he didn't have more than a little shadow of a beard, and he was tiny, so he was still young. Just a _little_ over thirty, maybe.  
They ate their rice and surprisingly tasty spicy greens together in companionable silence as the sun set, finishing the meal off with some tangy hard travel cheese and some dried dates.  
The kid lay back on his bedroll with a happy sigh, patting his round full belly.  
Probably the first time he'd been _full_ in a long time, and Nori washed the greens pot, putting it away, checking on the pony one last time and making sure the camp was in order before he sat down on his own bed.  
The kid was already asleep.  
Nori stirred the coals of the fire with a stick and idly knotted a few strands of grass to keep his hands in practice before he went to bed.  
He had no idea what to do with the kid.

The night got cold fast, that was one thing that still often caught Nori by surprise. Warm as it was during the day, as soon as the sun set the clear dry air held no heat. He was fine, wrapping his bedding tighter around himself to drift back to sleep, when a small sound caught his attention.  
The kid's teeth were chattering, and Nori cursed himself an idiot.  
He was a lot bigger than the kid, and wearing a lot better clothes. If he were cold, the kid must be freezing. The kid had wrapped himself into a cocoon of blankets, but his shivering was visible still in the dim moonlight.  
“Kid.” Nori said, reaching out of the warm blankets to gesture him over, “come on, it's cold.”  
He didn't have to ask twice, in a wink the kid had bounced out of his blankets and curled into Nori's. Nori spread the kid's blankets over them too, relaxing into the shared warmth.  
Nori arranged himself into the big spoon, and they both fell back asleep.  
At least the kid slept still.

 The next night the kid only cleared one sleeping spot of stones. He also taught Nori how to recognize a few wild plants, one of which was a root vegetable, which when roasted in the coals of the fire was sweet and delicious.  
The kid was definitely useful, but Nori still didn't know what to do with him.

It was about a week later when they reached the next town. Nori stole some better clothes for the kid from a convenient laundry line, and a pair of boots. There was no reason for him to call attention to himself with being so ragged.  
The kid was sharp. After the third time Nori positioned himself to be bumped into to pick a pocket, the kid started to help, darting around so that rich-looking people swerved around him and right into Nori.  
 _Very_ useful kid.  
When Nori had gathered as much money as he wanted, he took them to a restaurant and let the kid order them whatever food he wanted.  
They had a two-Dwarf feast, and both ate until they couldn't fit another bite, then Nori bought them a room at an inn, where they got proper baths and slept in a real bed.  
...he liked to do that now and then.  
The next day the kid, without being asked to, helped distract merchants in the market while Nori stole things he wanted for the next leg of their wandering.  
When they were done, the kid was trying to copy Nori's swagger while giggling just like Ori would when Nori gave him something he knew Dori wouldn't approve of. Nori grinned back and knocked foreheads with him without even thinking about it.

 Nori had snatched a few extra blankets so they could have two bedrolls, but the kid only cleared one bed space at their campsite, chin set defiantly, and Nori just laughed at him. Truth be told, it was nice to share warmth, and the kid slept still, so he didn't mind that bit either. The extra blankets went to making the ground softer.  
It was probably the cushiest bedroll Nori had ever had. Usually he kept a pretty light one, since he usually didn't bother keeping a pony for very long. Still, it was a very sweet pony he'd stolen, so he didn't mind keeping it for a little while longer.  
He still had no idea what to do with the kid, but there didn't seem to be any hurry.

 The kid, now that he wasn't starving, had started to grow like a weed, by the time they reached the next town he had almost outgrown his new clothes already. His beard was even coming in a little thicker. Nori, quietly assisted by the kid, stole a good bit of gold and explained his plan. The kid was game, and Nori cleaned them up, and braided their hair up so they looked respectable, and channeled Dori while talking to a tailor, presenting himself as a high-quality but impoverished gentleman.  
He sniffed at the quality of the cloth, and discussed different cuts, and haggled over price, and ordered himself a new jacket and a full set of clothes for the kid. The kid's clothes were to be made with extra cloth rolled into the seams so they could be let out as he grew, a cost-saving tip Nori remembered from his own and Ori's childhoods.  
The kid played his part perfectly, but once they were out of the tailor's shop he couldn't stop laughing, mimicking Nori's haughty expression and delicate mannerisms before cracking up again. Nori couldn't help laughing along too.  
They had to stay in the town for about a week, waiting for the clothes, so Nori avoided any flashy theft. He did take the chance to steal a few presents for Dori and Ori, though, some rare-colored inks for Ori and a bolt of lavender silk cloth for Dori. He found a courier with a west-bound caravan and paid him well with stolen gold, and hoped it got to its destination. He hadn't put his own name on it, but his brothers would recognize his knots.

 A few months since he'd walked the himself and the kid out of jail, Nori had gotten used to having him around.  
He still didn't really know what to do with him, he'd considered apprenticing him to a craftsman of some sort, but there didn't seem to be a hurry. They were both having fun just traveling.  
Nori was relaxing in the back of a seedy tavern in the biggest city he'd brought the kid to yet. It was a nasty place, right up his alley, and he sipped his honey-date wine that had gone halfway to vinegar but was fortified with distilled liquor so would get the job done.  
He watched the whores and the gamblers, the thieves and the cutthroats, and he smiled, winding a small knife idly through his fingers. The kid was sitting to his left, safely ensconced in the corner, sipping a half-pint of small beer, watching everything with those huge amber eyes.  
The person on Nori's right, an eagle-nosed Dwarf who went by the name of Ornir, leaned down close to his ear.  
“You like we go upstairs, fuck hard?” he asked, and Nori felt the aching shiver of _need_ settle into his gut. There was no question that the answer was yes, he'd known he was going to as soon as they spotted one another, but Nori raised a braided eyebrow and turned away slightly, pulling a copper colored ribbon out of his sleeve and braiding it into the kid's hair, letting the Dwarf stew for a little. It would only work him up, and Nori would reap the benefits. He and Nori had met several times before, in their travels, the north-western edge of Ornir's range overlapped with the south-eastern edge of Nori's, and he was gorgeous. He was big and scary enough he could get away with wearing pure gold beads in his beard and hair, big gold rings in his ears and nose, perfectly accenting his gleaming skin so dark the light had to be just right to see the tattoos decorating him. He moved like a tiger, liquid grace and danger, and Nori suspected him of carrying nearly as many knives as he did.  
He fucked ruthlessly, finding and hitting the sweet spot so hard and fast Nori couldn't even catch his breath to scream, his fingers gripping so hard the bruises lasted for a week... the only lover Nori had never had to beg to go _harder_.  
Oh yes, Nori would like _very much_ to go to one of the upstairs rooms and fuck hard. It had been too many months since he took anyone to his bed, and Ornir had many of the same rules Nori did. No kissing, nothing but a good fuck, and _Mahal_ it was a good fuck.  
As Nori tied a big flashy knot into the ribbon in the kid's hair that would scream 'claimed' even to anyone who couldn't read it, he caught the attention of the server and had the kid order himself a plate of whatever food he wanted.  
He slipped a knife into the kid's hand, “Gut anyone who touches you.” He whispered, then turned to the impatiently waiting Ornir with a smile and a small nod.  
The big Dwarf growled in anticipation, pushing away from the table and starting for the stairs. Nori followed, pausing before he left. With a casual flick of his wrist he buried a previously hidden knife deep into the wooden table in front of the kid, glaring around the room until no one would meet his gaze.  
It should be enough to keep him safe until Nori got back, he grinned and winked at the startled kid, and followed Ornir upstairs.

 Nori lay sprawled across the bed, though they hadn't really used the bed much for the act itself, he laughed, feeling bone-deep satisfaction.  
Ornir patted him fondly on the belly, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, cleaning himself up.  
“You good fuck, no dying.” He said, “you live, someday we do again.”  
“The same.” Nori grinned, “You get better every time.”  
“Good enough for giving too salve recipe?” Ornir asked, and Nori shook his head, picking himself up to get cleaned up too.  
“The only way to get the salve is to fuck me.” he laughed, and the big Dwarf feigned heartbreak, shrugging into his clothes much the way Nori did, keeping his knives secret.  
“So, kid... he is son? apprentice?.. lover?” Ornir asked, raising an eyebrow at the last one, as Nori got his pants on.  
“No, I... hah.” Nori shook his head, “I don't _know_. I took him out of jail with me and he followed me ever since. I don't know what to do with him... he's fun to have around, though...”  
“Fun for you, dangerous for him.” Ornir commented, and then they were dressed and left the room.  
The kid was still alone when they got downstairs, Ornir grabbed Nori by the shoulder, pulling him in close.  
“Kiss kiss.” he said, eyes laughing, and Nori pretended he was going to before they both flicked knives out of their sleeves and tapped each other across the lips with the flat, laughing as they broke apart. Ornir stalked out of the tavern, fluid and dangerous, moving as though he knew everyone would get out of his way, and they did, parting around him, and he was gone.  
The kid looked miserable, his food mostly uneaten, sitting hunched in his seat. He looked up at Nori with teary eyes. Nori's favorite curved knives were in his hands by pure instinct as he took a defensive posture beside the kid, glaring around the tavern.  
“Did someone touch you? I'll gut them for you...”  
“...no...no one even looked at me...” the kid tugged gently on Nori's sleeve, and he put his knives away, sitting beside the kid. The kid leaned against him, sniffling slightly. “...I want to go now...” he said, quietly. It was probably the first thing he'd ever asked Nori for. Nori put his arm around the kid, giving him a little squeeze before knocking foreheads to cheer him up.  
“then let's go.” he said, prying his knife out of the table. The kid gave him a watery smile, handing back the knife he'd lent him, and clung to his hand as they made their way out to where the pony waited.  
The kid held on to Nori tight around his waist as they rode out of town. Nori wasn't sure what had upset him... and Ornir's words kept weaving their way through his head.  
“Fun for you, dangerous for him.”  
It was true. There was a _reason_ Nori had never brought Ori along with him on his travels, and it wasn't _just_ because Dori would hunt him down and remove his arms. Nori was liable to end up dead in a ditch or alleyway, and he didn't want to drag his baby brother down with him.  
Why _had_ he brought the kid along with him? Because he was lonely? Because he missed Ori, but didn't want to go back West yet? The kid was sweet, but he wasn't _family_ , he wasn't a replacement brother, and it was wrong to use him that way.  
Nori knew he should have dropped him off in the next town, or, if he was feeling sentimental, paid his apprenticeship fees to some craftsman or other, and left the kid to make his own way.  
If he kept dragging him all over the borderlands, he _would_ get him killed, and Nori didn't want that. The kid deserved to have a long good life, not a short one learning how to be dishonest with Nori.

 They stopped for camp early. Nori was, happily, a _little_ sore for a long day of riding. The kid still seemed subdued as he helped set up camp.  
It was warm, and there was a friendly little stream beside where they had chosen to camp, so Nori decided to take a bath... something a little more thorough than the brief wipe-down he'd had earlier.  
The kid was gathering whatever edibles he could find, and everything seemed safe enough, so Nori stripped down and splashed out into the shallow stream, finding a convenient spot to sit, gathering his hair up on the top of his head to keep it dry as he leaned back and let the water run over him.  
Eventually the kid joined him, having placed his gathered food next to the fire ring for when they decided to make dinner. Nori wished he'd ever learned the art of fish-tickling, people who knew the trick could usually feed themselves from any stream... but they had plenty of supplies, they would still be eating well.  
He stood up and walked back out of the stream, hoping to let the last of the sun's rays dry him before he dressed again.  
The kid made a sound of pain behind him.  
“You're hurt...” he said, when Nori gave him a questioning look, his eyes were swimming again, and he touched his shoulders and back, staring at Nori's.  
Nori touched, craning his neck around to try to see... spotting deep hand-grip bruises on his hips, feeling the bite marks on his neck and shoulders.  
“That's not... it's... um...” Nori was at a loss for words, had no way to explain how the slight pain had felt _good_ , had sharpened and intensified the pleasure... or at least, no words he could say to the kid.  
“Don't worry about it.” he said, and decided to get dressed immediately.  
That night when they went to bed in the cushy bedroll, the kid clung to Nori tight. Nori still didn't know what had upset him so much.  
“s'alright...” he murmured, petting the kid's back, “s'alright...”  
The kid still had the copper ribbon knotted in his hair.

The kid seemed more himself the next day, and Nori started to try to figure out what to do with him. Apprenticing him to a craftsman was probably the best course, so Nori tried to figure out what sort of craft the kid might be interested in.  
Metalwork didn't seem to interest him, or stonework, or mining. He liked cooking, but more personally than professionally. No sort of textile-work seemed to interest him either, and he wasn't interested in scribe work or other book-work.  
The kid seemed happy to talk about what he might or might not like to do, cheerfully pondering and discarding profession after profession. The two that seemed to interest him most were glassblowing and pottery... he talked about loving to look at the seller's stalls in his old town, seeing the beautiful creations, wondering how they were made. Nori explained what little he knew about the crafts, talked about the long years of probably doing not much more than mixing ingredients and maybe shaping beads, and it didn't seem to dissuade the kid.  
Glassblowing was not an easy profession to find a master for, and true masters of it usually only took apprentices with the fire touch, which the kid didn't have, but Nori knew of a few nearby towns with master potters... It would take some research to find a kind master, and then some sort of excellent heist to secure the funds for the apprentice fee, he'd probably have to band together with some other group for that...  
He felt a little sad to think of leaving the kid behind, but he never should have picked him up in the first place. He would be leaving him much better off than he'd found him.  
With the question of what to do with the kid settled, Nori relaxed. He had a plan now.

 It took about a month of research to decide which master potter to apprentice the kid to, meanwhile Nori kitted the kid out as best he could, getting him a second set of clothes and boots, a few knives of his own, and a set of pottery maker’s tools.  
The kid seemed happy to practice with his tools in the mud of streambanks or wherever they camped. He didn't make anything that was recognizable, but that would come with time, Nori was sure.  
The kid had gotten attached to the copper ribbon. He braided it into his hair every morning. It was a good color on him, a bright splash in his dark curls.  
Nori had also been putting out tentative feelers for a heist to sign up for, something that would pay for the kid's apprenticeship and maybe a little more.  
He was known well enough, in enough of the wrong circles, to find something fairly easily. He traveled to the city in question, and after the regular negotiations, had committed to a heist.  
Nori kept the kid with him in the hideout, and the company got used to him. Nori didn't like the way one or two of them looked at the kid, so he took to braiding the kid's hair himself, in full view of the company, claiming him with a knot on the end to make sure there was no question of the kid's availability. Even though they were now sleeping indoors, Nori and the kid still shared a bed, to keep him safe at night. Nori didn't think he'd be able to forgive himself if something bad happened to the kid on his watch, even if sharing a bed with the kid meant he couldn't with anyone else... there were one or two in the company he wouldn't mind having a taste of...  
To keep the kid busy and out of the way, he found someone willing to teach a little pottery making, and with the kid's quiet assistance pick-pocketed enough gold to pay for a month's worth of lessons. He wasn't planning on being there so long, but it didn't hurt anything to be prepared.  
The kid seemed to have gone through another growth spurt, and Nori had to have his clothes taken out again. Having as much food as he wanted was definitely good for the kid... and he really took to his lessons, happy to prattle on about glazes and grades of clay in a way that reminded Nori of Ori and scribe work... he even took to carrying around a little pouch with clay in it, practicing shaping it with his tools whenever he had a free moment. Nori took it as a good sign for the kid's chosen profession, nothing had ever captured Nori like that – nothing honorable at least, nothing but how to get other people's things into his own pockets, and how locks worked, and new ways of hiding knives on his person, and interesting uses for those knives.  
The heist went half-sideways in the middle, but with quick thinking improvisation they managed to pull it off regardless. Nori's lock-opening parts went perfectly, of course, and his speed with knives, which was not part of his agreement, came in handy. He took out the unexpected guard before he could even take a breath to raise the alarm... without even getting blood on his clothes.  
The kid had clearly been on pins and needles while Nori was away and tackled him as soon as he came back; Nori negotiated for a higher cut of the haul with the kid tucked firmly against his collarbone. The leader, recognizing how useful Nori had been, was happy to grant it him.  
She tried to recruit Nori on a more permanent basis, which was a point of pride. Nori felt he hadn't done his job right unless they wanted to keep him.  
He declined of course. No banding together for more than a single job, that was the rule.  
They celebrated in the typical way, with ale, food, and sex. Nori kept light on the ale, and tried to keep the sex out of the kid's view. He probably should have abstained, to keep an eye on the kid, but after the adrenaline of the half-botched heist he _needed_ to get fucked. He'd never stop twitching if he didn't... and with the strong curve of the leader's biceps calling to him, he did not resist when she offered.  
Nori came back from a thorough and satisfying mutual ravaging to find the kid being pawed at by a very drunk member of the company, one of the ones who'd been eying the kid. The kid was inching away, pushing the other's hands away, and the eyes he turned toward Nori were miserable.  
Nori saw red, and it was only luck that he remembered not to gut the Dwarf right there. Killing could, _would_ , come later, in the quiet dark with no witnesses. In three flying steps he was on the other, using his superior agility and sobriety to send the Dwarf crashing away from the kid, landing on top of him with a knife pressed tight to his throat.  
“What part of my knot in his hair do you _not understand?_ ” Nori hissed, “he's _mine_.”  
“aww... c'mon...” The drunk Dwarf complained, “Ev'ryone knows you ain't _touching_ him.”  
“That's my business.” Nori growled, “How do you know I'm not playing a long game?”  
Other company members had noticed the commotion and were gathering around, muttering amongst themselves. If they decided to come at him, he couldn't take them all.  
He flipped neatly to his feet, knives in his hands.  
“We're leaving. Now.” He said, eyes daring any of them to challenge him. “get our stuff, kid.”  
The kid scrambled to obey, and the company members shifted uncomfortably. After his display with knives on the heist none of them was eager to face Nori. The leader came to see what the fuss was, still flushed and disheveled, she recoiled in surprise from his glare.  
“I'll be taking my share. Now.” he said. She gestured to her lieutenant to see to it, then fixed him with a steady gaze.  
“Care to explain?” she asked.  
“Ask _him_.” Nori kicked the drunk Dwarf, who still hadn't gotten up, and with his leader's eyes on him the drunk explained that it wasn't fair, Nori hogging the kid if he wasn't going to use him.  
“He always was a stupid drunk.” She said, handing Nori his share. He took it, going through it quickly to be sure it was right and all in clean currency, as he'd requested. The kid had his and Nori's belongings packed up, Nori's heavy pack in his arms, his own on his back. Nori backed out of the room, grabbing his pack and towing the kid with him.  
He wasn't sure he'd ever saddled and packed a pony so fast in his life. He didn't relax until they were well out of town, the kid resting against his back, arms around his waist in a tight hug. The pony was _not_ happy to be out after dark, but was a sweet thing and put up with it.  
“I shouldn't have left you.” Nori said, quietly, patting the kid's hand, and he was glad he wasn't going to have to worry about things like that much longer. The kid was going to be a potter's apprentice, and Nori wouldn't have to worry about him any more. It was fine to have him with when he was wandering, but it was obviously too dangerous and inconvenient to keep him when he wanted to do serious work.  
It had been fun, but all things come to an end.  
It was very late at night when Nori finally stopped them for the night to camp, doing no more than picketing the pony and setting up their bed roll.  
They settled comfortably into the blankets. Nori was almost asleep when the kid spoke.  
“Did you mean it, what you said?” he asked.  
“hmm?” Nori didn't know what thing he'd said.  
“That I'm yours?”  
“Just... keeping you safe.” Nori yawned, patting the kid on the shoulder, and that seemed to answer his question. They both fell asleep, and didn't wake until the sun made the blankets too warm.

 He'd gotten so used to braiding the kid's hair in the morning that he didn't really think about how he didn't _need_ to anymore when the kid brought him his ribbon in the morning.  
The kid screamed with excitement when Nori casually mentioned at breakfast that the money from the heist would be paying to apprentice him to a real master potter. He danced in a circle, amber eyes glowing, then hugged Nori and tried to kiss him, but Nori easily dodged him.  
“No kissing!” he laughed, spinning the kid away, and they packed up the pony in good spirits.  
The kid's good mood disappeared when he climbed up behind Nori on the pony. The kid made a small pained noise, and Nori felt gentle fingers on the back of his neck.  
“You're hurt again...” he said, quietly. Nori reached up to touch, feeling a few small stinging scratch marks... he decided he'd better not take off his shirt for a few days, no need to worry the kid with the ones across his back or the bites along his collarbone.  
Nori adjusted the collar of his jacket, “It's... don't worry about it.” he said. Someday, when the kid wasn't a kid anymore, he would understand... or maybe not. Dori never did.  
The kid wrapped his arms tight around Nori's waist, pressing his face between Nori's shoulder blades.  
“ _I_ would never hurt you.” he said, half muffled, and Nori chuckled, patting the kid's hands, fisted tight in the front of his tunic.  
Sweet clueless kid.

They made good time on their way to the town with the master potter Nori had chosen, they were both eager to get there. It was easy to coax the kid to talk about the wonderful works of art he dreamed of someday creating, though Nori made sure to remind him that it would be a lot more making beads and plates and cups than great works of art... the way he'd reminded Ori that scribing wasn't all illuminated manuscripts, it was much more copying dry texts over and over... the same way his first teachers had reminded him that theft was much more planning and waiting than flashy heists.  
He hadn't particularly taken that to heart, though. Some of his personal bests had been all flash and daring in the spur of the moment.  
Nori tried to enjoy his last weeks with the kid, laughing and cooking together, sleeping cuddled up in the luxurious bedroll, practicing a little pickpocketing when they passed through towns – the kid was _damn_ good at getting rich people to bump into Nori. The weather was lovely, not too hot or cold, though Nori could feel a moisture in the air that meant the rains would be returning soon, and made a mental note to get himself some better rain gear.

 Nori made himself and the kid as presentable as possible, which meant purchasing a room at an inn, washing their clothes, and getting proper baths. The next morning Nori braided their hair so they weren't _quite_ as fussy as Dori, and they went to go get the kid apprenticed.  
The kid looked terrified and excited, Nori put an arm around him and controlled his swagger as they walked. Respectable Dwarves didn't swagger like Nori did.  
The master potter was obviously surprised at the unorthodox proposition of taking the kid for her apprentice, especially since Nori made it clear that he was not acting as a guardian, just paying for it. The kid would have to sign his contract himself, if he wanted it, since he had no family.  
The master asked about how payments would be made, and Nori tried very hard not to give any sort of mischievous or knowing smile as he offered to pay the standard five years up front, after which the kid would be expected to pay his own way with the quality of his work.  
He considered that it might have been wise to dress himself as a noble of some sort, so he could make it look like a charity case. The master potter was looking dubious, as though she suspected Nori was a criminal.  
In the end, it was the kid who secured the apprenticeship when the master potter asked him about clays and glazes and was impressed by his enthusiasm.  
They all three shared a pot of tea while she and Nori haggled the price of the apprenticeship, and when the terms were all agreed upon, they jotted up a contract. Nori counted out the agreed upon sum of gold onto her table while she went over the terms with the kid, then she verified Nori count of the gold, and she and the kid signed the contract.  
“You start tomorrow morning.” she grinned, clapping the kid on the shoulder, “Enjoy your last day of freedom!” The kid's smile looked like it might split his face. The master potter shook Nori's hand, giving him a sharp look.  
“...I'll take good care of him.” she said, opened her mouth as if to say more, then closed it and shook her head instead. The look she was giving him said that she more than half-knew that he wasn't honest.  
He was glad for her silence.  
The kid attached himself to Nori's side as they walked back to their inn, talking excitedly about all the kinds of clay and tools the master had had in her workshop... it had just looked like mud to Nori.  
When they got back to the inn the kid sprawled happily across the bed while Nori sat on the edge and began to slowly pack his things, pondering what he wanted to bring with him and what he wanted to leave with the kid.  
“What will _you_ do?” the kid asked, lying on his stomach and kicking his feet idly.  
“Wander, explore, make trouble.” Nori grinned.  
The kid's smile slipped a little, “...but... you'll come see me? you'll be back?”  
Nori shrugged a shoulder. He couldn't promise he would... coming to see Ori so often was why Ered Luin had gotten so dangerous, he couldn't make the same mistake here, couldn't tie himself to anywhere or anyone.  
“...no...” the kid's eyes were brimming with tears, he reached up to touch the copper ribbon Nori had braided into his hair, then grabbed onto Nori's jacket with both hands, and Nori realized with a sinking feeling that, with all their talk of what the _kid_ was going to do, they'd never talked about what Nori was going to do. He'd thought it was obvious that he was going to continue on the way he always had...  
“No!” the kid's bottom lip was trembling, “No, 'cause you said... you said...”  
“I never promised you anything.” Nori said, sharper than he'd intended to, brushing the kid's hands off and splitting their belongings faster, taking only the bare necessities for himself. The master potter would be housing the kid and seeing to his needs, but it wouldn't hurt him to have some things of his own.  
“but you said I'm _yours!_ ” the kid definitely crying now, “and... and..”  
“You don't belong to anyone.” Nori said, “especially not me.” His hands flew as he sorted through their things, rolling up a light bedroll possibly faster than he'd ever rolled one before, not even taking the time to make fancy knots as he strapped it to his pack, taking only one small cooking pot and a small bag of rice of all the kitchen things, packing light, packing to _run_.  
The kid wrapped his arms around Nori, holding on tight, “I'll come with you, I don't have to be a potter, I don't, I _want_ to be yours.... I'll be good... I'll be good...”  
“Let go.” Nori said, pushing the kid away, not wanting to hurt him, but the kid only held on tighter.  
“I'll help you, and take care of you, and you can be with _me..._ you'll _never_ have to go with anyone who hurts you again, I'll do anything you want, anything you want...” he pressed tight against Nori, his hands petting, eyes pleading.  
“No.” Nori felt his stomach turn, pushing the kid away sharply as he stood, “No.” he said again, grabbing his light pack and heading for the window. The kid threw himself on Nori, grabbing on tight again, and Nori fought the instinct to pull a knife to get free. He didn't want to hurt the kid, he really didn't, but he had to _go_. Mahal, the kid didn't even have a real _beard_ yet, and Nori just _couldn't_ deal with this.  
“You don't have to wait, you don't have to, to 'play the long game'.” the kid was begging. “I'm not a kid, I'm _not_ , I'm fifty... _almost_ fifty... and, and I want to be with you. I _love_ you.”  
Nori threw the kid away from himself, heading for the window again, and if the kid had tried to pursue him he might have made it, he'd already planned out half a dozen steps to get over the roofs and away.  
The kid crumpled to the floor and wailed a name as though his soul was breaking, it was the only name Nori had ever given him, and it wasn't 'Nori'.  
Nori stopped at the window, let his forehead thunk against the glass, closing his eyes as the kid sobbed on the floor.  
 _Almost fifty_ , almost legal age, the same age Nori had been when he'd started, close to a hundred years ago now, and Nori had been little for his age too. Suddenly Dori's disgust was understandable. Nori couldn't imagine... just _couldn't_. The very idea was repulsive.  
He'd been where the kid was, except he hadn't. He'd never loved anyone, he'd just gone looking for Dwarves who would teach him about locks, and stealing, and sex, and he'd found them and loved every second.  
He should never have picked the kid up.  
He'd thought it was safe. He should have known better, even if he'd thought the kid was only thirty... he'd gotten complacent. He'd gotten used to having the kid around.  
Maybe he did need to go back to the West to see Ori, if he'd really gotten lonely enough that he missed _all_ the warning signs and let someone love him.  
It was completely unacceptable, it was sloppy, it was stupid and unbelievably _dangerous_.  
The kid said the name again, voice broken in tears, and Nori sighed.  
He knelt in front of the kid, but pushed his hands away when the kid would have touched him.  
“I have to go.” he said, “The inn is paid for the night, and dinner for you too, and tomorrow you'll go be an apprentice potter.” He pulled out his three coin purses, emptied all the coin into one, and gave it to the kid, ignoring how his sobs were growing harder. “Use this to buy anything you need that the potter can't or won't. I'm leaving the pony, keep it or sell it, I don't care.”  
The kid said the name one last time, following it with 'please'.  
“That isn't even my name.” Nori said, quietly, a hand on the kid's cheek, “...you reminded my of my baby brother, I'm _so_ sorry...” He leaned forward to press a light kiss to the kid's forehead, and then he vanished himself out the window and over the roof before anything could hurt more.  
He was far away when he finally stopped running, but only because the rain started and he could barely see through the great sweeping sheets of it pounding down, and he hadn't remembered to get himself good rain gear.  
If some of the water pouring down his face was salty when it reached his lips, he ignored it.  
He plotted a route in his head that would take him first to the city of the heist to kill the drunkard who'd made him say things the kid had taken the wrong way, and then West. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori is about as observant as a brick, sometimes. I think it's because his heart is a closed box and he forgets that other's aren't. 
> 
> ...I don't know why my Nori has to waft through Middle Earth, breaking hearts right and left. I really don't.


	7. The Kid in Erebor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori does end up meeting the kid again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter pulls headcannon from Axe Omakes chapter 4.

“Watch that one's hands, he's a thief.”  
Nori's eyes snapped up to the speaker, one of the vendors tending the market stall he was idly perusing, a young Eastern Dwarf with a slight build who was smiling widely at him... and he couldn't _quite_ tell if it was an 'I'm so glad to see you' smile or an 'I'm going to put a knife in you' smile.  
The Dwarf said a name, which told Nori how long ago and in what part of Middle Earth they'd met, some thirty years ago on his first trip East. The Dwarf looked slightly away, dropping his head shyly, looking up at Nori with big amber eyes under his thick black curls. He was young... thirty years before he would have been just a...  
“I _know_ that's not your name.” the Dwarf said, quietly, “You called me..”  
“Kid!” Nori grinned in disbelief, and the kid's smile nearly broke his face.  
The kid had done well for himself after all, well enough that he had made it all the way to Erebor's High Market, with pottery of such fine quality that Nori was considering buying an authentic Eastern tea set to replace the one of Dori's that had been broken _through no fault of Nori's_ , thank you very much, though try to tell that to _Dori_...  
He'd never... he'd never gone back to check on the kid. Part of it was that he'd thought it would be best not to open old wounds, to give the kid a single clean break, since he couldn't give him anything else... but he'd also been afraid to go back and find out that the kid had taken after him, had used the dishonest things he'd picked up from Nori and gotten himself killed. Better to _hope_ for good than to _know_ bad... and he'd been sure the kid wouldn't want to see him, not after the way they'd parted.  
The kid ducked out of the stall, was standing to the side, made a small motion as though to run to Nori, pulled himself back...  
Nori stepped quickly out of the flow of Dwarves, to the side of the stall, arms open, and the kid threw himself into his chest.  
He wasn't the scrawny kid Nori had walked out of jail with so long ago, but he would never be a big Dwarf. He was half a head shorter even than Nori, who had never been tall. Nori gave the kid a solid squeeze and pushed him back to take a good look.  
Oh, he'd grown into a handsome thing, if you liked the type, small and almost Elf-slender with those big eyes... His beard was elegant and narrow on his chin, braided into a thin-pointed bullwhip, and his hair was thick and long, a gleaming pure blue-black ponytail accented with expertly-crafted bright-glazed beads.  
“You've gone gray...” the kid said, reaching up to brush a finger against Nori's hair.  
“Oh!” He said, noticing Nori's marriage bead, reaching out and not-quite-touching, eyes widening as he looked closer, “a _Noble?..._ ”  
“Have you gone... honest?” he whispered in disbelief.  
Nori flashed him the shark smile, leaning in close. “ _Never_.” he whispered, and the kid giggled at him just like Ori, pleased but a little embarrassed to be so pleased. Nori grabbed him by the back of the head and bumped their foreheads together, releasing him with a laugh.  
“You've done well for yourself.” Nori commented, gesturing to the stall.  
The kid blushed a little, shrugging, “Sometimes I think I'm better at the selling than the crafting... for _some_ reason I can spot the thieves...” he glanced at Nori from the corner of his eye as he said it, and Nori laughed again, feeling a little bit of pride.  
The kid _had_ taken what he'd learned from Nori, but he'd used it honestly.  
“I'm... I'm working...” the kid gestured awkwardly back toward the stall, backing away slightly, the other two young Dwarves who were working there were throwing them curious glances while they tried to attract customers.  
“I'm buying!” Nori said, moving back to the front of the stall while the kid ducked back into the back, and the kid was thrilled to argue the merits of various tea sets with Nori until they finally settled on an delicate set with a light green glaze and a motif of grass.  
Nori had been keeping an ear on the other Dwarves as he talked, so he shook his head when the kid quoted him a low price for the set. He tapped his marriage bead with a knife, giving the kid a knowing look.  
“Money.” he said, let the kid assume he'd married into riches... he didn't need to know that there were _kingdoms_ less wealthy than Nori, with a fourteenth of Erebor's gold to his name, or a seventh if you counted Dwalin's too.  
He refused to pay less than the most expensive set he'd seen sold, and the kid scowled at him, but relented when one of his friends kicked him.  
“I can't take it now...” Nori said, handing over the gold, “But maybe I can pick it up when the market closes, and we can go someplace and catch up?” He asked.  
The kid hmm'd slightly, looking uncomfortable, “I'm... _respectable_ , I can't really be seen in...”  
“Someplace nice!” Nori assured him, and the kid smiled, nodding, and Nori saw himself off, dropping by a fruitseller's stall to steal an apple, rolling it around his hand in front of the shocked vendor before flipping a coin to him and swaggering off, winking at a guard who'd witnessed the whole thing and knew better than to try to stop him.

 Dori saw them come in to the shop, and he wanted to smash Nori's head in. This was not a new state of things, so he was able to control himself, but he didn't _know_ how Nori could be so dense about some things. He swaggered in with his arm around a slender young Dwarf who was looking up at him as though he'd invented mithril, and Nori was just laughing and talking as though he weren't breaking the poor thing's heart.  
Nori seemed to think that his marriage bead absolved him of all responsibility for broken hearts, not that he'd taken much _in the first place.  
_ “Dori!” Nori greeted expansively, “I brought you something!” He gestured to the young Dwarf, who proudly held a cloth-wrapped bundle in his arms. Dori was almost tempted to snap that he couldn't take in _all_ of Nori's cast-aways, but he didn't.  
Dori gestured them away toward the counter, carrying a pot of tea and a few cups to some customers, “Put it over there, I'll see to it in a moment.” He said, and didn't miss the young Dwarf's shocked look between him and Nori, and then breaking up into laughter, which he tried to hide in Nori's collarbone.  
Ah, another one who'd seen Nori's 'Dori impression'.  
When he had settled his customers he came back to the counter to see what Nori had brought for him, other than the headache of yet _another_ heartbroken victim.  
“Kid, meet my brother Dori.” Nori introduced, “Dori, the kid.”  
“Jord.” the young Dwarf said, shaking Dori's hand, “But I like 'kid' too.” he smiled at Nori as he said it, and Dori smiled back politely and didn't injure his brother.  
“This is not an admission of guilt.” Nori said, firmly, as Dori opened the bundle to reveal a gorgeous Eastern-styled tea set that...actually seemed to be much _nicer_ than the one Nori had smashed. The kid had disengaged himself from Nori and started to point out the features of the set – clearly he was the one who had made it. Dori didn't want to believe his brother capable of it, didn't want to _believe_ his brother capable of many of the things he did, but he swore to himself that if Nori had stooped to seducing a potter just to get a good deal on a teapot, he really would remove his arms from him. Nori wandered away to look at the tea varieties, and Dori dropped his smile.  
It was time to try to mitigate Nori's damages. Again.  
“How do you know Nori?” he asked.  
“Is _that_ his real name?” the kid smiled brightly, glancing over to where Nori was poking a jar. “He never told it to me... he broke me out of jail!.”  
“Oh!” that was not at all what Dori had expected, he'd never _heard_ of Nori breaking anyone else out of jail, and... what on earth was a potter doing in jail?  
“He took care of me, and I _tried_ to take care of him. We traveled together for _months_ , and then he paid to apprentice me to a potter!” The kid said, turning his big amber eyes toward Nori again, “I _worshiped_ him.” the purr in his voice belied the past-tense.  
The kid had finished unwrapping the entire set, setting it out on the counter, he smiled down at it, seeming shy, “I never thought I'd see him again.” he confided. “But, thirty years later, in Erebor's High Market... there he is!”  
“oh.” Dori said again, and he was glad of customers to tend, because he could do that automatically and it gave him time to think. It just seemed so out of character for Nori, especially for Nori-thirty-years-ago, Nori before the Quest, who had no conscience and trusted no one and and always traveled alone... or apparently not. Apparently he once traveled with the kid, who must have truly been a _kid_ back then.  
When he was done making the rounds of his little shop, Nori and the kid had decided to break in his new teapot and were sitting at a corner table, heads bowed together as they talked, both laughing as they illustrated stories together with their hands in the way friends will, remembering old times together.  
Dori let them be, the evening crowd was flowing in and even with Nethanu's graceful help he had his hands full. He wasn't sure if the fact that the kid had known Nori so long ago and still _liked_ him made the situation better or worse... there was still the problem of how the kid looked at Nori, the way his body followed Nori's back when they bumped shoulders in laughter.  
Nori left for a moment, having drunk too much tea, and Dori swooped back in, offering some of Nethanu's famous berry tarts and making sure they had everything they needed.  
“You _know_ his marriage is one of love?” Dori asked, and the kid looked a little surprised.  
“Why wouldn't it be?” he asked... and then his eyes softened and he put a hand over Dori's where Dori was straightening things on the table.  
“I know.” the kid said, gently, “...he said I reminded him of his little brother.”  
“oh.” Dori said again, realizing that he was using the word far too often. He could see it, something in the lightness of the kid's laughter, in those trusting eyes, yes, he could see just a little of young Ori in him.  
“I think he was lonely.” the kid said, with a little self-depreciating shrug, “and there I was.”  
“I'm sorry.” Dori said, but he shook his head with a small smile.  
“ _I'm_ not.” the kid answered.  
Nori came back, and Dori let them be again, watched Nori listen to the telling of the kid's life story, watched the kid listen in rapt adoration to a heavily edited version of Nori's that did not include being a Hero of Erebor or a King's Spy, but included a lot of traveling and getting into trouble.  
They had circled back around to telling stories about things they had done together, laughing, sitting close with their heads together when Dwalin came in looking for Nori.  
Dwalin's eyes widened when he saw his Dwarf pressed against another, and then his eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring as his fists clenched in their knuckle-dusters and a slow red flush began to climb up his white-bearded face.  
Dori saw the life of his beautiful new teapot flash before his eyes, and gave Dwalin a _look_.  
Dwalin blanched, and Dori smiled.  
There would be no violence in _his_ teashop. Not today.  
Dwalin stomped up to the table, looming down at Nori and the kid. They both looked up (and up and up), then the kid snorted and elbowed Nori.  
“I see _your_ tastes never changed.” he laughed, “Did you just marry the biggest one you could find?” and Dwalin gawped in surprise. Nori grinned, gesturing Dwalin to sit with them.  
“Kid, meet Dwalin.” he smiled, “Dwalin, the kid... did I ever tell you about the kid? No? We got arrested together, the first time I traveled East...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For ages, if anyone's wondering, The kid is a little under 80, so about Fili's age. Nori is about 170, and Dwalin is about 200.  
> Roughly.


	8. The Education of Nori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did Nori learn to be such an excellent thief? When did his thieving begin?  
> This chapter might not mesh perfectly with established timelines in Axe and previous chapters, just FYI.
> 
> Also: quick note on my headcannon for Dwarven paternity laws - because their mother never remarried, the brothers RI are all three legally the sons of someone who died before Nori and Ori were born.

The first Dori knew of Nori's thieving ways was less than a year after their mother's death and Ori's birth.

Dori was at the kitchen table going over and over the numbers, trying to make the money stretch far enough to buy all the things a baby needed,  __ and _ _  food for himself and Nori.

There wasn't  __ enough _ _ , there was never  __ enough. _ _  He worked all the hours he could, with a baby strapped to his back when Nori couldn't watch him, but there just wasn't enough  _ money _ .

He couldn't stint on Ori's food, or diapers, and the baby was constantly growing out of his clothes... not to mention the fact that Dori's own clothes were growing threadbare and must be replaced somehow, and his boots were wearing thin on the bottom, and with winter approaching...

Dori didn't know  __ how _ _  his mother had done it, all those years without counting a single penny. She would just smile and say 'there's always enough', but there  _ was not _ .

The first Dori knew of Nori's thieving ways was when his little brother walked into the kitchen to interrupt him fretting over his numbers. Nori bit his lip, squared his lean shoulders, and pulled a heavy coin purse out of his jacket. He set it on the table in front of Dori and walked out without looking back.

Dori for the first time noticed his little brother's silent soft-padding walk, his quick-twitching nimble fingers, that sly knowing smile – for the first time allowed himself to  __ see _ _  it, and put it all together with the odd hours Nori kept, and all those years of unexplained cuts and bruises, and the gold that had appeared in front of him.

Dori put his face in his hands and wept for the shame of their family, fallen so far.

...and then he composed himself and counted out the ill-gotten gold, and worked it into his budget.

 

Nori climbed into the lap of his mother's friend, who always stopped by when he was traveling through Ered Luin. The Dwarf he would someday come to realize was the one who'd sired him. The Dwarf smiled and gave him a hug, and told him stories of sneaky cleverness and daring escapes.

“Don't tell him those stories!” his mother laughed. “What are you trying to teach him?”

“Aww... he's just little. He won't remember,” the Dwarf laughed.

But Nori did remember.

 

Nori was playing under the kitchen table when mother's friend came to visit. He came leaping in through the window and threw himself down on the floor, breathing hard.

There were shouts outside, and Dwarves running past.

Nori came and lay down on his belly beside the Dwarf, and the Dwarf laughed and scruffed his head.

When Nori's mother came home, Nori and the Dwarf were both sitting under the table, and Nori was learning about how locks work. It was fascinating, and Nori basked in the Dwarf's praise when he managed to open the lock without using a key. Nori's mother laughed and sat under the table with them.

“Don't teach him that!” she laughed, “What are you trying to turn him into?”

“Aww... he's just little. He won't remember,” the Dwarf laughed.

But Nori did remember.

 

Nori sometimes caught his mother's friend slipping gold coins into the bottom of his mother's purse or her pocket. He saw how quick and clever his fingers were, admired the graceful way his hands moved.

He'd asked to be taught how, but the Dwarf had laughed, shaking his head.

“You're getting too old, if I taught you things like that your mother would take my arms out of their sockets... you know your mother's the strongest Dwarf in Ered Luin, right?”

“The strongest Dwarf in the world,” Nori had contended. His mother's friend had laughed.

“Maybe... maybe...”

But Nori had remembered the way his hands moved, and tried to practice it, tried to move his hands lightly like that. He watched how the Dwarf's hands moved whenever he could, and practiced picking things up by sliding his hands past and slipping them into his palm instead of just grabbing.

 

His mother's friend changed his hair, and his clothes, so he looked very different. He braided up Nori's hair to match, and held hands with Nori, and they walked through the city together.

They walked down Market street, and Nori saw how the Dwarf's hands moved. This time coins were coming  __ into _ _  his hands instead of going out, and Nori finally understood why his mother would not have liked it if the Dwarf tried to teach the trick to Nori.

They went to a tavern, and the Dwarf kept Nori tight by his side and got him a half-pint of small beer. He talked with his friends, and laughed, and made plans. Nori remembered enough from the stories the Dwarf used to tell him to know that there were a lot of plans being discussed that would make great stories, full of sneaky cleverness and daring escapes. He also knew enough now to know that it was all very illegal.

Nori watched everyone's hands, and there was  __ so _ _  much to see. Ways of flipping knives out of sleeves, juggling knives, hiding knives, picking up and laying down coins and cards and dice. He had never imagined there were so many Dwarves with quick clever hands to watch!

“Don't tell your mother!” the Dwarf warned him when he brought him home. "You don't want me to get in trouble, right?” and Nori nodded.

He had  __ so _ _  many new things to practice!

 

Nori didn't go out  __ often _ _  with his mother's friend, but often enough that the people in the tavern recognized him, and the Dwarf didn't have to poke anyone with knives for getting too close to Nori anymore. Not that they new him by the name of Nori, there.

 

Nori went to school, like all good Dwarves, and he learned figures and writing and history. When he was old enough, he learned fighting too, which he liked better than he did figures and writing and history.

There was talk of getting him apprenticed to learn a trade, but nothing called to him. His mother assured him that there was no rush to decide anything.

He overheard her talking about how she didn't know how she would afford to pay his apprentice fees, anyway.

 

His mother's friend didn't come around as often anymore.

“It's gotten too hot in Ered Luin,” he said. “I can't come by so often.”

Nori saw the sadness in her eyes, and knew that she missed her friends. He saw her scrape pennies, because there were no gold coins finding their way into her purse or pockets anymore.

He couldn't do anything about her missing the Dwarf, but he thought he might be able to help with the coins.

He braided his hair up the way his mother's friend would do for him. He put the knife he'd begged the Dwarf for in it's sheath hidden on his arm, and he put the twisted bits of metal he used to practice opening locks in his pocket, and he went to the tavern.

It was time he got himself apprenticed.

 

The first Dwarf to take Nori as a pupil was one of his mother's friend's friends. He had called Nori over when he's stepped into the tavern and frozen, unsure what to do and suddenly less brave to be here alone.

Nori had explained that he was looking for a teacher, and the Dwarf had laughed. He'd borrowed a lock from someone and tossed it into Nori's lap. He said that if Nori could unlock it by the time he was done with his ale, he'd take him.

Nori pulled the picks he'd made out of his pocket and set to work, fiddling with the lock under the table while Dwarves joked and laughed around him. His hands were sweaty with nerves, and his fingers trembling, but he somehow managed it. The lock opened with a little 'click' that he muffled in his sleeve by habit. He was already used to hiding his practice from Dori and his mother.

The Dwarf was not done with his ale yet, seemed distracted by a story someone was telling. Nori scooted closer, with his hand just so. He just had to wait for the Dwarf to bump into him as he recoiled from a laugh and slid the lock into his pocket with the motions Nori had seen and practiced so many times but never used.

Nori sat quietly hands in his lap as though he were still working on the lock while the Dwarf finished his ale.

“Well, lad?” the Dwarf asked as he drained his mug of ale, “Let's see.” There were laughs from the surrounding Dwarves, it seemed that very few of them had bet on him actually opening it.

Nori smiled.

“Check your pockets,” he said.

There were wild cheers as the dumbstruck Dwarf pulled the unlocked lock out of his pocket. Nori's back was pounded and he was given a half-pint of real ale.

“He's got the hands!” they crowed, as his fingers were praised and admired. “You take good care of those, lad,” he was advised.

Nori was taken on as a pupil, and given several other offers of teaching, with the understanding that half of anything he stole was to be given to his teach, and if he were arrested and mentioned his teacher's name or anything about him, he would be slowly and painfully killed.

“And don't tell your mother, I'd like to keep my arms attached to my body!”

Nori learned how to hide his lockpicks, and other tools the Dwarf taught him about, so that a simple search of his pockets wouldn't reveal anything illegal. He learned to open more locks and many more methods of taking things out of pockets than he'd dreamed existed. He started to learn how to judge the quality of metalwork and gemstones at a single passing glance.

Nori was cautious and careful, and he was young and innocent-looking, and in the years he studied under his first teacher he was rarely caught. More than once it was his ability to run and climb very fast, and to fit into small dark hiding spaces, that saved him. The only times he was actually grabbed by the Guard he was little and cute enough that bursting into tears got him released again. 

He wasn't often able to slip gold into his mother's purse or pocket, but he was able to slip silver in often enough that it seemed to help.

 

Nori's second teacher taught him more about misdirection, and climbing, and opening windows, and working in teams.

He was caught properly for the first time. Running and dodging, he headed for one of his old escape routes, unaware that he'd grown. He hadn't been able to slip into the gap between buildings. The guard was immune to his tears and had been tying his hands to cart him to jail when when teacher floated out of the darkness. She slunk up behind the guard and hit him on the head with the pommel of a knife with  __ just  _ _ enough force to knock him out briefly.

“Don't tell your mother,” she laughed as they ran away.

 

Nori picked for his third teacher someone who could teach him more about escaping from guards. He'd been lucky so far, but he'd had too many close shaves. He also taught Nori about knots, and how it was useful to have something to keep your hands busy and nimble when you were locked up. He found he was good at the knots, and he  __ loved _ _  the secret knot language, how different twists and turns changed the meanings so you could say a dozen different things. He soon outpaced his teacher in the knots.

 

Nori found a Master Knotmaker who was willing to teach him a few hours a week. His Master praised the speed and quickness of his fingers. His mother and Dori were pleased that he'd finally found himself a craft, even if it was one that would never see him rich. It gave him something he could safely talk about with Dori. They could discuss the different properties of different fibers, since Nori worked with threads and strings ribbons and Dori with yarns and ribbons and threads.

 

His fourth teacher taught him about knives, and good ways to hide them, and where exactly on the Dwarf or Human body to use them, and was the first to teach him about sex. Nori had asked him to be his teacher before, but had always been turned down. This time the Dwarf gave him a piercing look, tugged on his beard, and asked him how old he was.

“Fifty.” Nori had answered, and the Dwarf nodded and accepted him as a pupil.

“Don't tell your mother.” he moaned into the pillows as Nori muffled his cries of pleasure in the mattress.

 

Nori didn't have formal teachers anymore after that teacher. Young though he was he had made a decent enough name for himself, being very fast with locks and very light with his fingers, that he could join groups as a member instead of a trainee.

He was still a voracious learner, soaking up any lesson anyone could give him, whether it be sex or knives or theft.

It was inevitable that he would run into his mother's friend professionally, eventually – especially since he still frequented the Dwarf's favorite tavern in Ered Luin. He was lounging on the table in front of his next intended teacher/lover, winding a knife between his fingers and laughing about a recent heist when the Dwarf came in.

Nori had smiled and waved. The Dwarf made a double and then a triple take, and then walked over as though in a daze. Nori kicked a few Dwarves to clear a spot for his mother's friend, and then tossed a coin to the bartender for an ale for him.

“So... you're, ah...” the Dwarf said.

“Yep!" Nori agreed brightly. “Don't tell my mother.”

The Dwarf snorted, “I'd like to keep my limbs!”

“So would I,” Nori answered, and they shared a smile of understanding.

 

It was not so long after that that Nori's mother announced she would be having another child. Her friend was ecstatic, he promised her that he would take care of her.

Nori was at the tavern when the Dwarf was planning a big heist with his regulars to pay for the little one's birth. Nori begged to be let along, to help, but was turned down.

The Dwarf and a good half of his regulars never come back.

Nori couldn't even tell his mother about the job gone horribly wrong without revealing how he knew.

 

He gained a brother and lost a mother on the same night.

 

The first time Nori slipped gold into Dori's pocket, he realized that the tactic wasn't going to work the same way it had with his mother.

Dori counted his money. Dori  __ knew _ _  exactly how much he had on him at all times, and when he found more than he knew he had he spent  __ hours _ _  going over his figures trying to make sure he hadn't shorted someone somewhere, hadn't forgotten a bill.

Nori did what he could, padding the wages he was paid by his Master Knotmaker to the point of breaking, but it wasn't enough. He couldn't do  __ enough _ _  to help. He couldn't take care of Dori, beautiful immaculate Dori who's clothes were growing ragged with overwear, and precious precious tiny Ori of the huge eyes and the sweet smile. He had money, he just couldn't  __ give _ _  it to them.

Finally, Nori swallowed his pride and his fear and gave Dori a purse of gold. He left before Dori could demand answers, but not fast enough to avoid hearing his brother's heartbroken sobs.

 

The first Dori knew of his brother's thieving ways was when his little brother put a heavy purse of gold on the table in front of him and walked away.

It was not the first, or the last, thing his brother ever stole, but it was the first time he stopped hiding it. 

Dori dried his eyes and counted the money, and was glad for the small mercy that their mother had never had to know.

 

 


	9. Dori Would Rather Not Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Nori gets chatty after sex.   
> Dori does not appreciate being told about his little brother's adventures. 
> 
> !!!WARNING!!!  
> !!UNDERAGE THIS CHAPTER!!  
> ALSO LOTS OF SEX!
> 
> (This chapter may not play nice with established timelines)

 

“Dori... _Dori_... Doooori. _Dori!”_

Dori sighed as he opened his eyes, looking up at his annoying little brother, who had perched himself on him in the bed. Nori's eyes glowed as he grinned a manic grin that Dori just _knew_ would mean trouble. 

“What?” he said, wondering how late at night it was and knowing he had to work in the morning. 

“Dori... Dori... I am... I'm...” Nori giggled, then leaned down close, his voice a stage whisper, “I am become a _Dwarf_.” he threw his skinny arms in the air at the last word, then giggled again, bouncing on Dori. 

“You have always been a Dwarf.” Dori informed him, pitching his scrawny brother off his bed, but Nori just giggled and climbed back up to lay next to him, kicking his booted feet in the air as he lay on his stomach, hands under his bearded chin. 

“I'm not a little darrow anymore. I'm a Dwarf.” Nori informed him, giggling again. 

Dori snorted. 

“It's true.” Nori said, not at all hurt by his disbelief, that manic smile not fading in the least, “I have.. I've... I've...” Nori giggled again, his voice back to stage whisper, “I've had _sex_.” 

“You've _what?_ ” Dori snapped, hoping for the sakes of everyone involved that he'd misheard, all thoughts of getting right back to sleep abandoned. 

Nori giggled, rolling onto his back, watching Dori through his fingers. “Buggered right up me arse!” he giggled, then sobered slightly, lowering his hands with a satisfied sigh, his eyes still glowing, “It was _lovely_.” he sighed, stretching luxuriously. 

Dori breathed carefully through his nose, “Tell me who. So that I can kill him.” he said evenly. If he could quietly kill his baby brother's defiler, then their mother would never have to know. 

Nori gave him a hurt look, “No.” he said. “If you kill him, he can't do it _again_.” the warm purr in Nori's voice on the last word was more than enough to turn Dori's stomach. 

“You. Aren't. Fifty. Yet.” Dori said, very carefully not-yelling. Nori might be very close to it, but that made no difference to the law, or to Dori's feelings... and Nori was tiny! What kind of a sick monster would _do_ that?

“Don't tell _him_ that.” Nori giggled then bounced up to give Dori a kiss on the cheek before scampering toward the bedroom door, “G'night, love you!” He waved, then practically _wafted_ out the door, closing it quietly behind him. 

Dori punched his pillow in frustration, then slammed his face into it. 

_Why Nori?_

 

Dori woke with a body flopping across his and a manic giggle echoing through the room. 

“Dori... Dori...” Nori whispered. 

Dori sighed. 

“I am become a Dwarf!” Nori proclaimed, quietly. 

“I thought you already did that.” Dori refused to let himself be riled. Nori was utterly unrepentant, and no threats Dori could make would make him reveal a name. 

Nori, who was lying on his back across Dori held his hands up in the air facing each other, then switched their positions so the one that had been on top was now on the bottom. 

“Other way.” he giggled, grinning at Dori as he dropped his arms, letting them fall above his head. “It was _niiiice_... so _hot_ and so _tight_ and the way he was _moaning_... _fuck_ , it was _so good!”_

“Nori... _Nori_... stop. Please stop.” Dori did not need to know... he really didn't. It was bad enough that someone had corrupted his baby brother, he didn't need to know the details. 

With an athletic flip, Nori repositioned himself so he was lying beside Dori, grinning at him. 

“Which way's _your_ favorite?” he asked, tilting his head to one side like a puppy, “I really liked giving it, but I _might_ like taking it better...” 

“ _We are not having this conversation_.” Dori snapped, trying to keep any thought of his little brother doing _either thing_ out of his head, his stomach turning as he didn't quite succeed. 

Nori pouted slightly, but then that manic giggle escaped him again and he gave Dori a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving. 

“Good night, sleep well.” he called as he swaggered out the bedroom door. 

Dori put his hands over his face. 

_No chance of that, now_. 

 

Dori was tackled with a flying hug when he got out of work, he pried Nori off of himself. He was _tired_ and would like to get home... but the crazed look in Nori's eyes gave him pause, as did the manic way he was giggling. 

“Doooriiii...” Nori said, and Dori could just _tell_ what sort of a conversation this was going to be. At least he wasn't being woken up in the night, and at least Nori was of age now, but he wished they were not in a public place and he wished _most of all_ that Nori could instead have a nice civilized conversation with him about knot language or the properties of various silks, as they sometimes did. 

“Not here.” he said, walking quickly. His scrawny brother hurried to catch up, giggling as he suddenly latched onto Dori's back, climbing up him to be carried piggy-back the way he'd done as a child. 

“Nori...” Dori tried to shrug Nori off, but his brother was as tenacious as a tick, giggling, and Dori gave up. 

“Dori...” Nori whispered in his ear, giggling, “I am become a darrowdam!” 

Dori felt cold in the pit of his stomach. 

“I _sincerely_ hope you took a care to prevent pregnancy.” Dori hissed. The _last_ thing their already tattered family honor needed was an illegitimate child fathered by a Dwarf who was little more than a child himself. 

“Can't get someone pregnant with your _face._ ” Nori giggled, and that was not an image Dori ever needed in his mind. “I liked it.” he continued, “It tasted funny, but she made _very_ different sounds, and then when I...” 

“Stopit!” Dori said, trying to shrug Nori off his back again, and Nori devolved into giggles. Dori sighed, giving up. He put his arms behind his back, supporting Nori as he trudged along, ignoring the strange looks they got. Nori was happily humming 'blunt the knives' as he rested his head on Dori's shoulder... it would almost be comfortable if it weren't for the _reason_ and the fact that he was far too old to be carried piggy-back. 

“Let me down here.” Nori said, suddenly, squirming until Dori let him go, “She told me to pick up a few things before next time... I can't wait!” His eyes glowed and he gave Dori a wink before he scampered off down Apothecary street. 

Dori _really_ did not need to know that. 

_Why, Nori?_

 

“Ooooh, Dooori...” Nori moaned, flopping across him, and Dori was hardly even surprised anymore that his brother was in his room in the middle of the night. 

“I am become... a Man.” he said, gesturing expansively. 

“You _what?_ ” 

“He was _huuuge!_ ” Nori waved his hands vaguely in the air, before giving a happy sigh and a small giggle. 

“How does that even... _are you alright_?” Dori had no idea how that would even _work,_ Nori was (finally) growing into himself, but he wasn't _big._

“I'm _fiiiine_.” Nori purred, patting Dori across the chest fondly, “Two of my friends fucked me to loosen me up first, and then we eased him in _slooooow_. Fit just fine.” 

Dori did not need to know this. Not at all. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep it out of his brain. 

“It was nice, but I don't think I'd like it _all_ the time... and he didn't last very long. Dwarves are better.” Nori mused. 

“Can you stop?” Dori asked, and Nori laughed, quieting, but didn't show any signs of leaving. 

“You're going to get yourself hurt, going on like this.” Dori said. 

“Naaaah...” Nori disagreed. “It's all good fun.” 

“It's not _supposed_ to be _good fun_.” Dori argued, “It's supposed to be love, and commitment, and _respect_.” 

Nori laughed, “Love's a fairy tale, and a waste of time when there's _so many_ people to fuck...” 

“You can't bed _everyone_ you want to!” Dori tried to get him to see reason. 

“I can try.” Nori grinned, sitting up to plant a quick kiss on Dori's cheek before he sailed out of his room. 

_You're going to get hurt, Nori..._

 

Nori stumbled into the house giggling so hard he nearly choked on it. He had a black eye and a split lip bleeding down his chin. Dori looked up in shock from where he was knitting beside the baby, but luckily little Ori did not wake in his basket. 

“Nori!” Dori rushed over, and Nori grabbed onto him, giggling hard, his pupils blown wide. There was no smell of alcohol on his breath, and Dori had the sudden horrible fear that Nori was experimenting with more dangerous things... likely, considering how reckless he was, and a _thief_ to boot. 

“Oh, Dori...” Nori said, but he was laughing too hard to continue. 

“Let's get you cleaned up.” Dori said, and Nori was limp and pliable in his arms as he half-carried him to the kitchen, stopping to grab Ori's basket and bring him with. 

He sat Nori in a chair and put Ori under the table for safekeeping, grabbing a washcloth from a drawer and some warm water from off the back of the stove, bringing it over to Nori, who was sprawled out on the chair, still laughing so hard he could barely breathe. 

Dori dabbed gently at Nori's wounds. 

“Tell me.” He ordered. 

“You can be proud of me now.” Nori said between bouts of giggling, “I am become a Guardsman! Very respectable.” 

“A guardsman...” Dori had the feeling he didn't want to know the rest of this story, and he was right as, despite his protests, Nori told him the entire tale of being chased and roughly caught down a dark alley, and being 'buggered silly' and set free. 

He waited for the laughter to turn to tears, for Nori to realize what had been done to him, that he had been trapped and _used..._ and then maybe he would tell Dori and name so Dori could tear the guardsman into small pieces with his bare hands... but Nori stretched like a cat, grinning up at him. 

“It was the best fuck I've ever had...” he purred, “So rough, so _wild_... I need to get arrested _more often_.” and he slid bonelessly to his feet, giving Dori a hug before sauntering off toward the bath. 

_Nori, you're going to get yourself killed!_

 

“I am become a tavern wench.” Nori said.

Dori couldn't decide if it would be worse if Nori was the one paying or the one being paid. He settled for throwing a breakfast roll at Nori's head, and his brother just laughed, catching it out of the air. 

“I wanted to know if she really did know _secrets_ that us respectable folk don't.” Nori said, “By the way, also I am become a Woman.” He wrapped an arm around Dori's shoulders, leaning on him as he made tea.

“ _You_ are not respectable folk.” Dori said. 

“But I'm not professional either.” Nori contested, taking a big bite of his roll and continuing on talking with his mouth full, “But the only new thing she had was a salve recipe, the _best_ salve, so smooth and creamy, so slick, and never dries so you can keep going as long as you like without stopping...” 

Dori suddenly didn't want his breakfast. 

“Nori...” he said.

“I'm going to make up a batch tonight.” Nori continued cheerfully, “Do you have a tin I could put it in?” 

“No!” Dori huffed, “I'm not going to help you... ugh...” 

Nori laughed and shoved the rest of the breakfast roll in his mouth as he swaggered upstairs to take a nap. 

_When are you going to grow out of this?_

 

A heavy body flopped across his, and Dori immediately flung it off of himself. 

Nori hit the floor rolling, giggling as he bounced back up to flop across the bed and Dori, who really wished he was still sleeping. He'd thought Nori had _finally_ grown out of this. 

“Dori...” Nori said, “I am a _whole roomful_ of Dwarves of _all kinds_...” 

“That's disgusting.” Dori said, trying to push Nori away, but his brother, rolled bonelessly, keeping on the bed and Dori despite his best efforts. He finally gave up and tried to ignore him. 

“I was _very popular_.” Nori said, sounding pleased with himself.

“Stop, Nori.” Dori warned, doing his very very best to not imagine _anything_. 

“I'ma be sore in the morning.” Nori said, yawning as he cuddled closer. 

“Good.” Dori said, “Maybe it'll teach you better.” 

“Nah... I like it.” Nori said, comfortably, yawning again as he pulled a corner of the rumpled blanket over himself. 

“G'night.” he said. 

“Nori... Nori no, go to your own bed!” Dori pushed at Nori again, to no effect. 

“I want to stay _here_.” Nori protested, wrapping himself tighter in the blanket and not moving from lying diagonally across Dori. It _could not_ be comfortable for him– it certainly wasn't for Dori. 

“If you don't get up and go to your own bed, I will _take_ you there.” Dori warned, just wanting to get back to _sleep_. Nori sighed dramatically and threw the blanket off, leaving the room without another word. Dori shook his head as he fixed his blankets. 

_He isn't going to grow out of this, is he?_

 

Nori had decided it was too dangerous for Dori and Ori if he was seen with them, so he no longer came in the doors. He came and went from the upstairs window in the night. 

Dori could appreciate Nori not wanting to sully their family name with his ways, but wished he would be honest instead of sneaking. 

Nori came downstairs as Dori was lighting the fire to make breakfast in the pre-dawn twilight. Dori pretended not to notice Nori taking food items out of his bag and putting them in the shelves... just as he pretended not to notice the knitting needles and yarns that would appear in his work basket, and the warm clothes that would appear when it got cold and Ori needed more layers. 

Stolen, all of it... and all of it needed. 

“I am not an Elf, Dori.” Nori said, firmly. 

“That's right!” Ori agreed from where he was playing with a roughly carved wooden horse under the table. “You're a Dwarf.” 

“That's right, clever darrow.” Nori grinned at Ori, pulling a pretty ribbon out of his sleeve and knotting it into a quick shape and handing it to Ori, who of course immediately started trying to untie it and ignored his elder brothers' conversation. 

“ _Not_ an Elf.” Nori repeated to Dori, “I take it back. I erase it from my body.” 

“Are you trying to say that...” 

“Don't ever, with an Elf.” Nori warned him. “Very boring. I fell asleep for a while in the middle, and I _swear_ I didn't miss anything.” 

“Nori, I don't need to...” 

“Expected it to be more like a Man, honestly.” Nori said, “Physically, everything's just longer and thinner, but _technique_? Terrible. Slow.” 

“Stop, Nori!” Dori really _did not need to know this,_ and neither did Ori. He looked pointedly from Nori to Ori, but since Ori was completely engrossed with the knot Nori didn't seem to take the hint. 

“ _Not_ worth the effort of seducing.” Nori concluded. “Don't bother.” 

“You _hardly_ have to worry about me _._ ” Dori snapped, and Nori laughed.

“Good night, Dori.” He said, heading for the stairs. 

“It's _morning._ ” He huffed. 

“Not for me!” Nori grinned, throwing a wink behind and one final warning. 

“Remember, never with an Elf!” 

“What with an Elf?” Ori asked, the ribbon finally untied and his big innocent eyes looking up at Dori. Of _course_ Nori would leave Dori to come up with an explanation for Ori... and what kind of a Dwarf even _wanted_ to bed an Elf in the first place?

_This has to stop._


	10. How NOT to arrest Nori: don't get sentimental.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a continuation of Chapter 5. 
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> THREATS OF MUTILATION AND TORTURE  
> GRATUITOUS USE OF SINGULAR 'THEY'
> 
> ...Nori can be a creepy bastard when he wants to be.

 

They caught him down an alley that he could have _sworn_ wasn't a dead-end thirty years earlier. 

Clearly, Nori needed to spend some time exploring and updating his mental map of this particular city... once he escaped. He did _not_ have time to break out of jail at the moment. 

The guards grabbed him by the feet as he was beginning to climb and pulled him down, he hit the ground hard enough he wasn't in much of a fighting mood. 

The one in charge of them, a skinny, sharp-faced Dwarf with a bit of a stoop, directed the two brutes arresting him. They weren't unnecessarily rough, just thorough, gathering up his obvious knives.

They tied his hands firmly, but there was no metal in the core of the rope. 

Then, the skinny Dwarf grabbed him firmly by the arm and towed him out of the alley, dismissing the two brutes as they led him away. 

Really... escaping _this_ was going to be too easy. 

It wasn't even a _challenge_. 

Very disappointing. 

If you're going to go to the trouble of arresting Nori, at _least_ try to make it interesting. 

He'd been led down a quiet alley and was reaching for one of the knives in his belt when the skinny Dwarf expertly pinned him to a wall in a classic guard hold. 

Oh, if they thought they were getting _any_ of Nori, the skinny Dwarf had another thought coming. 

They leaned down close to Nori's ear, and Nori had a knife in his fingers. The guard was going to offer him freedom for a fuck, and Nori was going to see the color of their _blood_. 

“Once, a stupid scrawny trainee almost got themself killed trying to arrest you.” the guard said, quietly, “You saved my life that day, for no reason at all. You got me to safety.” 

Nori gritted his teeth. 

Fuck.

He should have _known_ that would come back to bite him. 

“I'm going to let you go.” The guard was saying, almost affectionately, “Give myself a bloody nose or something, to make it look real... but I don't _ever_ want to see you in this city again, understand?” 

“No.” Nori said, dropping the cut pieces of rope as he pulled his best knife out from the back of his tunic and simultaneously twisted out of the guard's grip – kicking them away from himself. They hit the wall of the alley hard, and Nori was on them, flinging them to the ground and pinning them with his best knife and another they'd missed in his sleeve. 

You do _not_ 'let Nori go'.

Nori gets _himself_ free, thanks. 

The skinny guard was looking up at him with terror in their eyes. 

Nori ought to kill them. 

He should have _known_ that helping the dumb trainee out would come back to bite him. Fuck, he'd expected the trainee to get themself killed, really. 

No, they just _had_ to have lived and remembered him. 

It hadn't mattered so much at the time, he'd been on his own, and he'd not expected the trainee to mention it to anyone. 

It was _different_ now. There were _so many_ lives that depended on his reputation staying sufficiently bad that he could gather whatever information he needed. 

Nori ought to kill the skinny guard. 

They looked up at him, eyes huge, trembling as they whimpered with a little blood on their forehead where they'd hit the ground, Nori's knives pricking into their skin... and they _hadn't_ hurt him, and it was probably a sign that Dwalin was rubbing off on him that he noticed that they seemed to be a _damn_ good guard when they weren't being blinded by a sentimental attachment to whoever they thought Nori was. 

They'd managed to corner Nori, after all. 

But he couldn't let that story get out. 

Nori leaned down close, smiled a smile that was all sharp teeth. 

“I am not a _nice_ Dwarf.” he crooned, “Don't make that mistake. If I ever hear of that story being told... I'll hunt you down, and I'll cut your tongue out...” He rubbed the flat of a blade tenderly against the skinny Dwarf's lips. They cringed away, tears pooling in their eyes. 

Nori leaned in so his breath brushed against the guard's ear, “and the things I'd do after that would make torture look _pretty_.” He breathed. 

He flipped to his feet, grabbing up his knives the guard had dropped and dashing up the nearest wall, up and away to where no honest Dwarf would follow. 

He just had to hope his threats had been convincing enough. The way the guard had blanched seemed to say they had been. 

Nori cursed the names of all guards with long memories (minus one) as he quickly mapped out a route in his mind that _should_ keep him out of sight until he was far enough away to be safe... but his map of this city was clearly not up to date. 

Still, it wasn't a complete loss. To escape arrest, leaving behind a somewhat battered and clearly terrified guard... not terrible for his reputation. 

...just as long as the guard kept quiet. 


	11. Guard Legends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am extremely sorry, I accidentally posted this chapter in the wrong place the first time around.  
> This is where it belongs. 
> 
> The city guards of Erebor have learned better than to chase Nori.

The trainee shouted 'thief' and gave chase, just as he'd been taught. The gray-haired thief was a quick one, darting away, scaling walls, dodging through buildings, with the trainee hot on his heels. The trainee's senior partner, an experienced guard, was right behind him, but the trainee was younger and faster and was filled with the zeal of one of his first chases.

He'd followed the thief down an alley, sure he'd cornered him, when his partner caught up with the trainee and grabbed him, throwing him against the wall, breathing hard from more than just exertion, eyes wide as the thief disappeared over the wall.

The trainee looked up at his partner, absolutely confused. Wasn't he _supposed_ to be chasing thieves? He'd almost caught him!

“Not that one.” she said, whispering fast and desperate, “Not that one. Chase any thief but _that_ one. You _do not_ want to catch that one.”

“That one's... _that one_?” the trainee gasped, his stomach turning, “Oh Mahal...” He slumped against the wall, limbs suddenly gone weak with fear.

New Erebor guards learned many things in formal training – hand-binding and prisoner-subduing techniques, for example, but there were a few things they learned informally from one another – ways to work together and stay alive.

The stories of the one you _don't_ chase were practically legend.

They said that he still had knives even after he'd been searched and disarmed, that the instant you weren't looking he had knives in your skin.

They said he could disappear at will.

They said he was unbindable – that he could not be tied in a way he could not escape.

They said he'd never been successfully arrested, no one had ever gotten him all the way to the jail... but you couldn't say he'd never seen the inside of the jail – every few years there would be a letter found in a high-security cell, written with a mocking tone and immaculate calligraphy.

There were crimes that were never solved – thefts that _could not_ have happened but _had_ , and very very rarely a person disappearing without a trace.

Some said he was a demon, a mischief spirit released from somewhere deep in the rock of the Mountain.

Some said he was the vengeful ghost of the thieves who'd rushed to the royal treasure chamber trying to profit in the panic and were consumed by Smaug.

Some said he was a crime lord, with an empire of his own more vast and loyal than King Dain's own subjects.

None of the guards knew exactly _what_ he was, just that he _should_ not be chased, he _could_ not be contained, and the higher-ups did nothing about him – _discouraged_ their guards from chasing him.

And that was terrifying.

What sort of power might he have, that he was let run rampant?

There were whispers, whispers, quiet whispers over one too many ales, that once one of the King's Guards was deep in his cups and complained of a cocky thief who was seen sometimes walking _out_ of King Dain's chambers, but never _in_ , and his impotent rage that he was allowed to do nothing about him.

The only thing the city guards of Erebor knew for sure was that it was far far better _not_ to catch that particular thief.

The senior partner was still breathing hard, “I almost thought I wasn't going to catch you in time.” she said. “Don't _scare_ me like that.”

The trainee put his hands over his face, “I... I didnt' know... Mahal, I almost _died_.”

 

Nori was bright-eyed and flushed as he slid in the window, grinning cheekily at Dwalin.

“New guards are like puppies.” he said fondly, “They run and yap and think they're _actually_ going to catch you...”

“Tormenting the guard again?” Dwalin asked, shaking his head.

“They're just so _eager,_ with their panicked nursemaids running after them.” Nori grinned, going through the kitchen cabinets looking for food. He tore uneven chunk of bread off a loaf and slathered butter on it.

“I can't have them after me when I'm working.” he added, sobering.

Dwalin nodded, putting an arm around his thief. No one, especially Nori, wanted him to have to kill or injure guards to keep his cover while working for the King.

...and if he happened to enjoy himself while introducing himself to the new guards...

that was his own business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Tumblr's zomborgs who commented on the last chapter: _All these poor guards - you’d think there’d be a class or a seminar or something, by now - “You see this dwarf? Don’t fuck with this dwarf. It will end very badly. For you. That is all.”_


	12. Guard Sign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr's Hobbitfing tagged me in a post that said: 
> 
> _My wife’s headcanon:_
> 
> _Nori disguised himself and went through guard training, so he’d know their tactics, signs, etc._
> 
> So I wrote a thing. I think another possibility is that he disguised himself and seduced a guard trainee (or three) and helped them study their guard sign. 
> 
> (mentions of sex, because Nori)

Iglishmek was a good language, or series of languages, really. Every town had a different flavor, every profession had their own version – like an accent – every family ended up with their own shorthand, and of course every clique of thieves had their own signs.

Nori soaked it all up, he’d always been good with his hands.

Guard-sign though… it eluded him. They kept it locked down _tight_ , unlike miner-sign or merchant-sign, you couldn’t find a thief who’d learned it to teach you. Part of the problem was that he only got to see it when they were chasing him, and normally he was paying more attention to trying to escape than what their hands were saying.

There was only one thing to do about it.

Nori stole what he was going to need and spent a few weeks out in the wild, laying out in the sun with his hair all spread around him drenched in lemon juice, and practiced a few different wide innocent smiles in a lady’s hand-mirror he’d stolen. When his hair was sufficiently sun-bleached he dyed it red – it would wash out but should last long enough – and a wide-eyed surface-born hick with constantly-messy red-blond hair and freckles across his nose, wearing a too-big tunic that made him look smaller than he was, walked into Ered Luin and signed up to become a guard.

He took a particular pleasure in paying for guard training with stolen money as he eagerly babbled the story of his family being _so proud_ to send him off to the big city to earn his fortune.

The barracks was crowded. Nori played at being intimidated.

Nori played at being the worst in his class as they struggled to climb over walls he could have scaled in moments.

“The criminals won’t hesitate to take to the rooftops!” the drill instructor shouted. He had that part right, but not much else. Nori particularly enjoyed listening wide-eyed as he lectured them about ‘the criminal mind’.

He’d signed up for the iglishmek, but he could see how useful it was going to be to know how guards _thought_ criminals like him thought.

He played at being the worst in his class as they learned how to immobilize criminals. He got quite a few good ideas of new ways to escape as the drill instructor warned them of things criminals might try.

Learning the ins and outs of how the prison worked was going to be _useful_ , he could tell. They just _told_ them how the guard rotations worked and _everything_.

He played at being _absolutely clueless_ at guard-sign. Unlike other versions of iglishmek which cropped up naturally, guard-sign had been specifically designed to be hard to interpret if you didn’t already speak it. A lot of the signs were counter-intuitive.

He _loved_ it.

He played at being the worst in his class at running cooperative jobs, where someone played the ‘criminal’ and everyone else tried to catch them. He got ‘lost’ in city streets, he misinterpreted sign and went the wrong direction, he got stuck trying over and over again to climb a wall when, if he really was as bad at climbing as he pretended, it would have made much more sense to go around.

“Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you!” the drill instructor growled.

Nori flushed, watching him coyly from under his eyelashes. “I wouldn’t like it if you were…” He murmured.

The drill instructor wasn’t so bad, particularly when he had Nori bent over his desk. Nori played clueless enough that he _would_ have been asked to leave if he hadn’t been fucking the instructor.

They would think he’d read the writing on the wall and taken himself home when he left… or that was the plan. He really _really_ tried to just disappear, but the very idea of them _never knowing_ that he’d fooled them _rankled_.

In the end, right at the end of the brief but intensive training course when the instructors and other trainees were hinting at him less and less subtly that he should probably _just leave_ , he snuck out of the crowded barracks unseen, leaving behind sharp metal shavings in the boots of trainees who had been particularly rude to him, and a knot of the drill instructor’s hair on his folded blanket.

On the surface the knot said ‘gratitude’, but there were subtle twists of sarcasm here and there, and in the heart of it was laughter.

He danced along the walls he’d ‘struggled’ to climb, navigating himself through streets he’d gotten ‘lost’ in, and made his way unseen to one of his hideouts, where he dyed over his hair with walnut and discarded his too-big overtunic – soon enough a thief with gleaming deep brown hair in three peaks, curved knives on his belt, and a sly smile with too many teeth swaggered to his favorite tavern to have a drink.

“What have you been up to? Where have you been.” he was asked.

“Learning.” Nori answered, winding a knife between his fingers, lounging back as he smiled bright and dangerous, wondering what to take for his next job, next con, next teacher, next lover…


End file.
